The Rise of Imperia
by k2scartoons
Summary: Just how did Gerard's aunt weasel her way into a position where she could imprison her nephew in the first place? Rated T just to be safe. Warning, no Smurfs for the foreseeable future. Since Imperia does not have a character selection, it's just going to be under Gerard. Please R
1. The Accident

~k2: Well, hello there Smurf fans~! I would like to start by warning you know that the smurfs themselves won't be appearing anytime soon. As much as I love them, especially dear, dear, Handy and the positivley adorable Nat, this story is background material for Gerard.

Mk: She has a tendency to try and explain things that were left unsaid.

~k2: Quiet you!

Mk: (raises her hands in slight defense) Just saying.

~k2: I appologize now if the story isn't well written. I haven't exactly been in a writing state of mind. Yet at the same time I just can't stop thinking about this story so...here it is. Enjoy!

Disclamer: Trust me, if I had owned the Smurfs it would be a lot more character driven. Peyo created the original, but Hanna Barbera kidified it.

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Smurfs: The Rise of Imperia

ch.1: The accident

_Dear Lady Imperia._

_I am afraid I have grievous news concerning your dear sister and her husband, the King. An accident has befallen their royal coach as they made their way back to the castle, an accident in which I am afraid they did not survive. However, the young prince, I am happy to announce, survived and is mending as we speak. He would benefit greatly from the presence of loved ones and we request that you come to the castle post haste._

_With regards, Mrs. Sourberry._

"Argh!" Lady Imperia crushed the letter in her hands, a wave of anger coursing through her. "The little brat survived! I can't assume my rightful place as queen with him still alive!"

"Me Lady" Thorick rumbled in his deep voice, "I offer me most humblest of apologies. I had thought the boy died in the crash."

"There is no room for 'thought', Thorick, you should have made sure! I knew it should have been a bandit attack!"

"Everyone knows there haven't been bandits in this Kingdom for tens of years, Me Lady, it would've been too suspicious."

"Yes, yes." Imperia replied, impatiently waving her hand, "I know, I know." She rubbed her sharp chin in thought for a moment, then smiled. "Perhaps it isn't all for naught. Gerard is still very young, much too young to rule a kingdom by himself. If I can just slide into his good graces, perhaps I can turn this to my advantage after all." She snapped her fingers sharply and spun on her heel towards her chambers. "Come Thorick! We must make haste! We have to make preparations for a long journey, and make it before my dear brother Leopold decides upon the same course of action!"

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Lord Leopold tapped his chin thoughtfully, his mind running a series of possibilities through his head. Orson, Leopold's aging attendant, stood nearby with a parchment in his hands and waiting for any orders. Finally, Leopold smiled wickedly and turned to Orson.

"This is the best news since the twins disappeared ten years ago! We can turn this to our favor, Orson! The prince is young, his emotional state most likely fragile. I can use this to ease my way into his good graces and take advantage of him. I will be the adviser he so greatly needs! HAhah! Come Orson! We leave immediately! And hope that Imperia has not already made her own move!"

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Mrs. Sourberry watched with a melting heart as the young prince stared dejectedly at his soup. The look on his face was simply miserable, but the bandage around his head, the healing abrasions on his face, and the broken arm in the sling made him look simply pathetic. Her old heart went out to him wholeheartedly. There was nothing she wouldn't do to see him smile just once. Or eat, for that matter. Prince Gerard had been found among the wreckage of a carriage accident along the pass heading to a neighboring kigdom, three days off from the castle. He'd been the only survivor, if only thanks to the passing of a trader on his way to the kingdom. Gerard had been unconscious the whole time and only just woken this morning. The whole castle was thrilled with his awakening, but upon hearing of his parents he closed himself up. It was her job to try to get him to eat.

"Your Highness, please," she made her words as gentle as possible. "You must eat _something_. You have to build your strength up in order to heal." Gerard gave no response. He simply stared at the soup. Mrs. Sourberry twisted her apron in her hands worriedly. Her duty as a maidservant warred with her maternal instincts. But the look on Gerard's face, never changing, finally made up her mind for her. At this point, it didn't matter that he was a prince. It didn't matter that it wasn't a proper thing to do. It was something he needed, so Mrs. Sourberry knelt next the Princes bed and gently turned his face to hers. His eyes were red and puffy from unshed tears and she could tell he was still trying to hold them back. Her heart melted completely at this and her own eyes began to water.

"It's okay to cry, Prince Gerard." she smiled at him "Everyone needs to cry once in a while. Holding it in like this is just going to sap away your strength; strength you need to heal."

Gerards lips quivered. He sniffed. His eyes started to water. Mrs. Sourberry's soft, comforting smile never faltered. Finally, a sob escaped the quivering boy and he flung his arm around the elderly maidservant. The woman was surprised at first, but flattered nonetheless and at this point she really didn't care about protocol. It what she had intended anyway. So she wrapped her arms tightly around the boy, giving him as much comfort as she could manage. She made sweet noises for him, petted his head and rocked. They stayed that way for what seemed like hours, but may have been only minutes for all she knew, until Gerard's sobbing eased and faded into hiccups. Even then, Gerard didn't release his hold on the woman; clinging to her like a lifeline. He rubbed his face against her bosom, slight whimpers mixing in with his hiccups. When the whimpers finally ceased all together and Gerard raised his head to gaze into her face, Mrs. Sourberry continued to smile and used her apron to dab at his face.

"Do you feel better now that you've cried?" She asked softly. Gerard lowered his eyes for a moment. When he looked at her again there was a bit of determined light in there that wasn't there before.

"I-I have to be strong." His words were hoarse from the sobs, and rather quiet, but he said them carefully and clearly. "Father-father always said the needs of the people come first."

The old woman stared at the boy in undiluted shock. "You're only 7, you shouldn't be thinking like this!"

"S-seven and a half." Gerard corrected, "My birthday is in two months.

"Well, technically that makes you 7 and three quarters, but never mind that. Are you sure? All I wanted was for you to eat."

"Father and M-mother..." he bit back a sob and rubbed furiously at his eyes. He looked at her again with determination "I'm all there is." Tears welled up again and his face crumbled. "I-I d-don't know w-what to dooo!"

Mrs. Sourberry took him in her arms again. "It's alright your Highness. Its alright! I've sent letters out. Your aunt and uncle should be arriving, I'm sure they can help. It's alright. You'll have all the support you could ask for with them, I'm sure of it."

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~k2: The show never said what happened to Gerards parents, but it's obvious he's an orphan. As for the twins I mentioned above, I decided to make Imperia the oldest of five children. Gerards mother being the third child. The twins may be mentioned more and I do intend to have flashbacks from both Leopold and Imperia back when they were kids, but the twins themselves won't show up. That is for an entirley different story.

Mk: Course, you'll be lucky if you ever get to see it.

~k2: Hey! No help from the peanut gallery there!

Mk: (snorts) You're track record explains itself. When was the last time you worked on DDNA?

~k2: (blushes) I'll get to it! I just...kinda...lost interest...Oh, come on! It's a very long, involved story with so much techno bable and mystic mumbo jumbo that I just got overwhelmed with it! Cut me some slack, ok?  
Mk: Hey, you're the authoress, not me.

~k2: (sulks in a corner)


	2. The Beginning

~k2: Welp, here it is. Sorry for the wait, and sorry it's so short.

Mk: It was going to be longer, but after reading through it, she realized that the perfect ending was with 'victory'.

~k2: All true. But luckily, that means the next chapter will come out a lot sooner.

Mk: Enjoy!

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Smurfs: The Rise of Imperia

ch.2: The Beginning

Lady Imperia walked through the castle halls with a regalness befitting a queen, drawing the eye of every servant she passed. They were careful, however, to not look at her directly, for they knew better than to attempt eye contact with nobility such as her. She was a far cry from their beloved king, who thought little of being in a higher station then his subjects and attempted to treat everyone fairly. Lady Imperia, however, was the opposite of her brother-in-law. She was arrogant, prideful and felt that certain things were allotted to her without question. That's how it had been eight years ago as well, when she vied for the attention of the king against her younger sister. There was no secret that, as the eldest, she had felt she had more claim to him then her sister. But Delusia had been more what the king was looking for. She may have retained some of the arrogance and pride that her station allowed, but it was much softer then Imperia's. She balanced the negative attributes with more positive ones, such as kindness and compassion. And she was prettier too. While Imperia, like their brother Leopold, took after their father, Delusia was more like their mother. A smaller nose and lighter colored hair with doe eyes to match.

Imperia ignored them all. Insects, the lot of them. Once she took command here things would most certainly change, just as they had changed when she took control of the family estates after her mothers...passing. All she had to do was take control of her nephew first. Wherever he was.

It had been her decision to forgo sending a courier ahead of her, disallowing them prior knowledge of her coming. Instead, she chose the element of surprise, hoping to curry sympathetic favor; the loss of her 'beloved' sister and her concern for her 'dear' nephew spurring her into immediate action. However, that being the case, there was no one to greet her on her arrival. Her plan now was simple. To continue with the concerned charade she would have to feign impatience. As such, instead of waiting in the great hall for the pathetic worm that thought they were in charge she would set out on her own to find the young prince. The task shouldn't be too hard, the castle wasn't a very big one (another thing she would change).

"MI'LADY!"

Imperia stopped as a shout from behind caught her attention. Turning slowly, she saw an elderly maidservant hurrying down the corridor. Imperia felt affronted at first, but quickly realized this was probably the castle steward. The absence of uniformed livery to tell one servant from the rest was part of her late brother-in-law's rule of equality. As such, Imperia stood where she was and waited for the fat cow to reach her. When she did, the woman was huffing and puffing, read in the face, and gave a most ungraceful curtsey.

"Mi'Lady!" She said again, breathlessly, "I only just heard you were hear. I apologize most humbly for the lack of entourage to greet you at the entrance to the castle. I did not expect you till at least tomorrow."

"I came the moment I read the letter." Imperia replied tersely. "And as quickly as I could. How could I not, hearing of my sisters death so suddenly. I knew at once that poor Gerard would need family as soon as possible."

"Yes, of course!" the old woman exclaimed. "Family is most definitely what he needs right now."

"Then what are you waiting for, take me to him at once!"

"Yes, of course!" The old woman curtsied again and beckoned Imperia to follow her.

Heading in the opposite direction that Imperia herself had been going did nothing to improve the woman's mood. Nor did the trek through the castle, which proved that even though it was small, it was still larger than she was used to. Having had gone in the wrong direction to begin with it only made the walk to the princes rooms that much longer and by the time they reached their destination Imperia found herself hoping for a chair of some sort waiting for her.

"The young prince is in here, milady." the woman announced suddenly, drawing Imperia's eye to a set of wooden double doors at the end of a hall. The plump old woman slowly cracked one of the doors and peeked in, but Imperia pushed her to the side irritably and flung the door open.

"Oh, my poor sweet nephew!" She crowed as she flowed into the room. The pitiful figure sitting in bed jumped, startled eyes staring at Imperia in shock. "I came as soon as I heard the dreadful news!"

The boy swallowed, pulled the blanket that lay at his waist towards his chest a little, and bit his lip. Imperia took in his reaction and adjusted her act a little. She glided over to his bed, gently moving the tray of untouched food to the side and placed her hand on the shoulder of his injured arm, her eyes displaying as much honest concern as she could muster.

"I'm here for you Gerard. I'll always be here for you."

For his part, Gerard look at the hand on his shoulder, looked at Imperia's eyes, then managed a weak smile. Inside, Imperia felt victorious.

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~k2: So? How was it?

Mk: Please let us know in a review, we forgot to ask for reviews last time.

~k2: Speaking of which, I would like to thank my two reviewers again for their wonderful reviews. It made me happy to read them. All signed reviews will be replied to, unsigned will get thanks via authors notes.

Mk: Thanks again for reading and remember! Every review is important, especially constructive criticism.


	3. Leopold

~k2: Okay. I have been in a slump the last couple months, sorry about that. It was not my intention to keep interested parties waiting, but from what I understand only one person even seems to be interested in this story. Unless someone would like to prove me wrong, that is. It would be nice.

Mk: Yeah, don't mind her. She's been pretty depressed about a lot of stuff right now.

~k2: That is completley beside the point.

MK: Yeah, uhuh. Anyway, as to the story, I would like to make a point about the first sentence. It sounds weird when yo ufirst read it, but it's worded correctly.

~k2: The middle ward of a castle is the space between the gate and the castle itself. There is also a few other wards, like the outer ward, the inner ward, and I think one more, I can't really remember. I was doing some study on castles so I could design a good diagram for Gerards castle to help during my writing, but, well...

MK: The slump extended to that as well.

~k2: Anyway, enjoy the read. That is, if anyone is even interested in this.

MK: Stop grumbling.

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Smurfs: The rise of Imperia

ch.3: Leopold

I

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I

Lord Leopold stared disdainfully at the elegant coach idling in the middle ward of the castle. He knew exactly who it belonged to, with it's careful detail given to elaborate scrollwork, both carved and painted along the edges and sides respectively. But it was the family crest emblazoned with gold paint on the door of the coach that confirmed it. Confirmed that his _dear _oldersister had made it here before him. He should have known she would waste no time in getting to the castle. Now, due to his own haste, (now wasted effort) he had no one to greet him and no one to announce his arrival. Not that there was anyone important in the great hall to greet him, of course. Gerard was probably sequestered in his chambers, healing. Imperia was probably already there, gaining every bit of trust she could muster from the broken boy, leaving Leopold himself with nothing to gain.

_Then again,_ he mused silently, _I could still worm my way in. I am oh so good at getting people to see things my way. After all, Gerard _is_ still just a child._

"Come along Orson." Leoppold beckoned as he exited the coach. Presenting himself to the castle guards shouldn't be too much of problem, they obviously let Imperia in. He watched as his againg attendant quickly overstepped him and climbed the steps to the antechamber with the self importance of a steward.

"Lord Leopold, elder brother to the late Queen Delusia, is here to see his nephew, crown Prince Gerard." He bowed and stepped to the side as Leopold topped the stairs to present himself. The guards themselves exchanged unreadable looks causing Leopold to scowl in annoyance.

"Would my Lordship like an escort?" The guard on the right asked

Leopold eyed the men suspiciously. Last time he visited the castle, a good two years ago, he was received in proper fashion. He'd sent word ahead and had a proper guide. Had his sister gotten the same question? Or perhaps she is the cause of the question.

_Imperia must have made an impression when she came through._ He mused silently._S__he __must have__ put up the pretense of a loving, bereaved sister. I__s__ she lost in the palace, or did the castle stew__a__rd find her already?_

"Which would get me to my nephew faster?" Leopold asked. He hoped that was good enough. He personally didn't feel like getting lost right now since he was already too late to make the first impression, and asking which would be faster made it seemed like he actually cared about boy. A very diplomatic response, if he did say so himself.

"If it pleases the lord, I would suggest waiting for an escort." The guard on the left stated

"You can't take me?" Leopold asked. He was sure impatience was to be expected, the fact that he really was helped.

The guards exchanged surprised looks this time and the guard on the right replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "We aren't supposed to leave our stations my Lord. But I can at least pass you on to a servant who can take you the rest of the way."

"Very well." Leopold replied "But be quick about it."

The guard stiffened slightly, but nodded and turned to go inside the castle, opening the large doors and beckoning Leopold and Orson to follow.

I

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I

"Now, I want no disturbances from anyone from now on," Lady Imperia explained in soft tones.

"Yes, M'Lady," Mrs. Sourberry's reply was just as soft.

"I fear for the boy's emotional state, so I feel it best that I remain near him as much as possible."

"Oh, I agree." Mrs. Sourberry nodded emphatically. She was very pleased that the Lady Imperia was taking such a favorable approach to this situation.

"First and foremost, my concern is directed at him, and I will have nothing interfere with his recovery."

"Most assuredly." Mrs. Sourberry stole a quick glance at the boy. The two women were standing several feet from the bed while Gerard sat watching them. The curious look on his face was quite welcomed to her considering the forlorn expression he'd been wearing previously. She smiled in spite of herself.

"Have I said something amusing?" Imperia asked suddenly. Mrs. Sourberry's eyes flicked back to the noble woman's quickly and she shook her head.

"No, M'Lady, it's just nice to see the young prince with a little more life in his eyes, that's all."

For her part, Imperia turned to look at Gerard herself. The boy gave a weak smile, but didn't say anything. Mrs. Sourberry had a feeling he still wasn't sure how to take his aunt, a woman he hadn't really seen in the last three years. He hadn't had very much exposure to her, and this sudden interest in the boy's well being was very surprising indeed, but nonetheless one that was going to be well received.

The corners of Imperia's mouth twitched, indicating a forced smile, one that Mrs. Sourberry figured was an attempt to help the boy feel at ease, but quickly returned her attention to the woman before her.

"Yes, it does appear my presence here has helped a little, and I intend to keep that kind of positive thinking going. As such, my stay shall remain indeterminate."

"Oh, yes." Mrs. Sourberry replied earnestly, "The young prince will like that, I'm sure. Family is very important around here, and the boy is most certainly going to need some guidance, if you don't mind me saying, of course."

"But of course." Imperia replied smoothly, "Those were my thoughts exactly. He's simply far to young to handle this situation. He's not even eight years old yet, the poor boy. By law, he isn't even old enough to hold the throne!"

"No, M'Lady, not until he's thirteen. He will need a regent until then."

"Yes, he will. Has Delusia and William left any instructions regarding regency until he comes of age?"

"No." Mrs. Sourberry shook her head sadly, "It was something neither of them had thought about. Truth be told, it was something _no one_ thought about."

"Well, no reason to fret dear woman, I am sure we can work something out. Perhaps I should-."

The opening of the nursery door and the boisterous demand of "Where is he?" cut Imperia's words off as sharply as a knife. The two women looked around to see the visage of Lord Leopold standing in the doorway, concern etched all over his face. When his eyes fell on the two women he seemed to relax a little and entered into the room fully. "I see you arrived before me, sister." his smile seemed a little forced, but Mrs. Sourberry wasn't sure, "I find it refreshing to know that I was not the only one to jump into action upon such dire summons."

"Yes." Imperia replied, a slight edge to her voice. Mrs. Sourberry looked from Leopold to Imperia with a little concern. "It is very refreshing indeed."

"How is, er, Prince Gerard doing?"

"As well as can be expected, considering the circumstances." Imperia seemed like she was forcing the words out. "But it is time he rested, we should leave him in peace now."

"But I only just got here!" Lord Leopold argued, "I insist on seeing him at once!" And without waiting for the argument forming on his elder siblings lips he pushed through the two women and approached the bed. Gerard, for his part, didn't look as alarmed with Leopold has he had with Imperia upon her first arrival and it warmed Mrs. Sourberry's heart to see him warming up to his uncle so quickly. But a glance at Imperia halted that thought quickly. The woman looked positively stormy, as if her brother had been the last person she'd wanted to see.

_Best to file that away for later. What's important is that they are both here for Gerard._ And indeed, that was the most important thing.

I

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I

~k2: Okay, so I hope you liked it. I'm not completely satisfied myself, but I made a promise to update this today. So, here it is. And, if it's possible, could you please let me know what you think? Reviews go a long way with me. I'm not asking for praise for the story, I want to know what you think of it. Good, bad, anything. Just a few words about the portrayal of the characters, the storyline, the setting...something you would like to see, perhaps. I will be putting some flashbacks in here soon, you will see flashes of what Imperia and her four siblings were like as kids, as well as find out startling secrets the only Leopold and Imperia are privy to. So if your interested in backstory, you'll definitely see that.


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